Spoil Me, Marie, and Shed a tear for Tragedy

Queen Elizabeth the 1st

I love all things royalty. I have a love affair with romantic tragedy, I think about Anne Boleyn and especially Marie Antoinette... it is a story of flair, extravagence, good times, heartbreak and tragedy. I have a feeling, that I will be coming out with a royalty jewelry line pretty soon, so stay tuned.

Now, I love classic portraits (even the depressing ones... can you believe that Marie Antionette had a portrait painted of her with all 4 of her children, and when her baby died, they painted the baby out of the picture, see HERE. The empty cradle is where the baby was laying!) I wonder how she and other tortured royals would feel knowing that they have become a kitsch icon to some?



I absolutely love the above painting of Queen Elizabeth the 1st and Josephine with her little Napolean, by Meluseena She is awesome because, she loves my Twilight jewelry, she is an amazing artist, she turns her art into paper dolls and jewelry, she has a gorgoeus blog, AND she is a fellow Lisa.



This lovely painting is by Jasmine Becket-Griffith of Strangeling. Her work is featured on apparel and merchandise in popular retail stores, so you can purchase the prints directly from her. Her images have a fiendish cherubic presence, a little bit goth elegance, her Marie is lovely!

I also just discovered the amazingly talented UK artist Mark Satchwill (photos below). He specializes in portrait watercolors, namely Tudor and royalty, mythology (another one of my favorite topics) and fantasy figures. Absolutely gorgeous! You can see a demo of the steps he used to paint the original Young Marie Antoinette HERE! I love when artists let us peek into the development of the creations, as it shows us how detailed and talented they are to complete such a masterpiece.


Young Marie Antionette


Anne Boleyn


Mary Queen of Scots

The Other Boleyn Girl

I just saw this movie (based off of the novel)last night with my sister, and even though I knew a bit of the history, it was such a depressing, but skillfully accomplished film. Scarlett Johansson played Mary, Natalie Portman played Anne, and Eric Bana played King Henry.

I know that it isn't totally historically accurate (my friend thought it totally fictional until the very end), but I am sure many of the emotional struggles that you don't see when reading history was spot on. This story has been bothering me all day. Are any of you like that, or can you just dismiss it shortly after you leave the theatre?

For some clarfication, I am adding the wikipedia links to Anne , Mary and Henry, so you can read up on both and the loathsome king, if you so desire :)



If you really like this part of history, rent the documentary drama "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" .